A V engine, or Vee engine is a

common configuration for an

internal combustion engine. The
cylinders and pistons are aligned, in
two separate planes or 'banks', so
that they appear to be in a "V" when
viewed along the axis of the
crankshaft. The Vee configuration
generally reduces the overall engine
length, height and weight compared
 each pair of corresponding pistons
from each bank of cylinders share
one crankpin on the crankshaft,
either by master/slave rods or by two
ordinary connecting rods side by
side. However, some V-twin engine
designs have two-pin cranks, while
other V configurations include split
crank-pins for more even firing.
 V-engines are generally more compact than straight engines with cylinders of the
same dimensions and number. This effect increases with the number of cylinders in
the engine; there might be no noticeable difference in overall size between V-twin
and straight-twin engines while V8 engines are much more compact than straight-
eight engines.[2]
Various cylinder bank angles of Vee are used in different engines; depending on the
number of cylinders, there may be angles that work better than others for stability.
Very narrow angles of Vee combine some of the advantages of the Vee engine and
the straight engine (primarily in the form of compactness) as well as disadvantages;
the concept is an old one pioneered by Lancia's V4 engine in the 1920s, but recently
reworked by Volkswagen Group with their VR engines, which is actually a combination
of V and straight configuration.
Some Vee configurations are well-balanced and smooth, while others are less
smoothly running than their equivalent straight counterparts.[citation needed] V8s with
crossplane crankshaft can be easily balanced with the use of counterweights only.
V12s, being in effect two straight-6 engines married together, are fully balanced; if
the V-angle is 60 for 4-stroke or 30 for 2-stroke, they have also even firing. Others,
such as the V2, V4, V6, flatplane V8, V10, V14 and V18 engine show increased
vibration and generally require balance shafts or split crankshafts.
 V2, commonly referred to as a V-twin
V3
V4
V5
V6
V8
V10
V12
V14
V16
V18
V20
V24
 Three types of engine: a straight
engine, b Vee engine, c VR
engine
 Engine operation
Since the axes of the cylinders are coplanar, the connecting rods cannot all be directly attached to the crankshaft
unless mechanically complex forked connecting rods are used, none of which have been successful. Instead, the
pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly. One piston, the uppermost
one in the animation, has a master rod with a direct attachment to the crankshaft. The remaining pistons pin
their connecting rods' attachments to rings around the edge of the master rod. Extra "rows" of radial cylinders
can be added in order to increase the capacity of the engine without adding to its diameter.
Four-stroke radials have an odd number of cylinders per row, so that a consistent every-other-piston firing order
can be maintained, providing smooth operation. For example, on a five-cylinder engine the firing order is 1, 3, 5,
2, 4 and back to cylinder 1. Moreover, this always leaves a one-piston gap between the piston on its combustion
stroke and the piston on compression. The active stroke directly helps compress the next cylinder to fire, making
the motion more uniform. If an even number of cylinders were used, an equally timed firing cycle would not be
feasible.[1] The prototype radial Zoche aero-diesels (below) have an even number of cylinders, either four or
eight; but this is not problematic, because they are two-stroke engines, with twice the number of power strokes
as a four-stroke engine.[2]
The radial engine normally uses fewer cam lobes than other types. As with most four-strokes, the crankshaft
takes two revolutions to complete the four strokes of each piston (intake, compression, combustion, exhaust).
The camshaft ring is geared to spin slower and in the opposite direction to the crankshaft. The cam lobes are
placed in two rows for the intake and exhaust. For the example, four cam lobes serve all five cylinders, whereas
10 would be required for a typical inline engine with the same number of cylinders and valves. [citation needed ]
Most radial engines use overhead poppet valves driven by pushrods and lifters on a cam plate which is
concentric with the crankshaft, with a few smaller radials, like the Kinner B-5 and Russian Shvetsov M-11, using
individual camshafts within the crankcase for each cylinder. A few engines use sleeve valves such as the 14-
cylinder Bristol Hercules and the 18-cylinder Bristol Centaurus, which are quieter and smoother running but
require much tighter manufacturing tolerances.[citation n
 Multi-row radials - Originally radial engines had one row of
cylinders, but as engine sizes increased it became necessary
to add extra rows.
Diesel radials - While most radial engines have been
produced for gasoline, there have been diesel radial engines.
Two major advantages favour diesel engines lower fuel
consumption and reduced fire risk
Compressed air radial engines
A number of radial motors operating on compressed air have
been designed, mostly for use in model airplanes and in gas
compressors
Model radial engines
A number of multi-cylinder 4-stroke model engines have been
commercially available in a radial configuration